I'm Back

As usual our Oregon weather held no surprises as we rode up highway 101 with a rain drop or two on the windshield. Paula practiced using the windshield wipers before leaving as her rental car is new to her and this was a good thing as she had to use them often along our route. The sun came out and it felt good so we took advantage and had a beach walk looking for agates at Gold Beach. The winds blew hard and cold and only sugar agates sparkled in the rocks while the tide crept closer as we walked along.

The pathway into the beach is overgrown with bramble bushes, sea grass and lots of prickly berry vines.

Here is Paula smiling as she is where she wants to be . . . on the beach searching for rocks for her grandsons who use them to make roads for their little cars. She found a tin box at the thrift store that has a picture of a racing driver that comes from Arkansas. It is filled with treasures from the sea.

Here by the roadside is a waterfall. There was no taking a picture of the beginning of the fall as the brush and brambles have taken over the area.

The clouds were plentiful and dropped a veil over the mountain top. We had a little fog in some areas but it was misty and dissipated quickly showing a bit of the blue sky and a few picture clouds to entertain us.

Our original destination was Coos Bay and we stayed at the Mill, on the Bay side and was able to have an open window to watch the tug boat come in from the north side of the bay and heading, what we thought, to the east side of the bay hopefully to lead one of those huge boats by us, but it made circles several times making us guess that they were training a new pilot for the tug or the pilot couldn't make up his mind which was to steer it. He finally straightened out looking a like a 'drunken sailor' listing towards the port side.

I had birthday coupons for our dinner and was presented a lovely tiny cake which they boxed up and we took to our room for a desert later. We toured the floor and saw a few new penny machines which are house machines. They are not going to pay a king's ransom but they are entertaining.

Our second day was a ride up to Florence some forty miles north of Coos Bay. The ride was beautiful and peaceful, lots of yellow gorse has taken over the sides of the highway and although pretty of color it is one of the invasive plants that choaks out everything in its path. It has spread in all directions, even into the fields and meadows. Florence is a lovely town with an antique store to tempt us into buying a trinket or two. We found our way to the 'new' casino, not sure how long it has been there but they did a good job of making it a great tourist attraction. It was a fun place with some machines we have never seen before touting 'The Amazing Race' and it ties four machines together so when a certain place is reached all four machines are set on a 'race' and the points start adding up. It was fun. All in all we had a great time and arrived back home in Brookings to return to the more mundane things in life . . . you know, laundry, grocery shopping, checking the mail and a surprise guest who kept us busy and the coffee pot hot.

So today I hope that you are coming or going on or off a small trip to some place you want to see. I hope you have drop in company that makes you smile. It is Thursday already and Memorial Day weekend is here. Grab an American flag and wave it high and proudly as some 'idiot' raised the question on the computer asking 'should the American flag be banned?' where is my soap box, I have a few words for that person or group . . . are they out of their minds? Hugs to all.